eBay to open UK high street store

Internet auction house materialises in real world

Internet auction behemoth eBay will be moving out of cyberspace and into London, although only for a five-day trial period

The shop will be an experiment that will run from the 1st December until the 5th, and will offer no tills or, indeed, any way for customers to buy anything in-store at all. Instead, the eBay shop will have on display 200 of the auction site's most popular items, which shoppers can then buy with their smartphones by scanning corresponding QR codes in the shop.

Weirder still is the inclusion of eight tablet PCs in the store, which shoppers can use to browse the full eBay catalogue, neatly removing all the convenience of internet shopping in one fell swoop. OK, so it's all a big marketing ploy, and it's only there for five days - going out of the house to use the internet in a shop still makes our heads hurt.

Popular items that will be on display include an inflatable, pilotable Dalek and a party dress from House of Fraser. The real-world eBay shop will open on Dean Street, just off Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road.